plants opened by Caterpillar in recent years have been in Georgia and Texas, while the company recently moved its mining division from Milwaukee to Tucson, Ariz.Ĭaterpillar Inc., the name the company adopted in 1986, has expanded beyond bulldozers. When it comes to opening plants in this country, Caterpillar follows the trend of big manufacturers that set up shop in the Sun Belt.

Caterpillar maintains 25 plants in China alone. Now Caterpillar has more factories overseas - 76 - than it does in the United States, where 62 plants operate. That was a time when most of Caterpillar's machines were assembled in Illinois - in plants at Joliet, Aurora and Decatur as well as across the Peoria area. manufacturing scene has changed mightily since 30,000 people were employed at central Illinois Caterpillar plants in the early 1970s. While Peoria was jolted by Caterpillar's actions last year, it's no secret that the U.S. The city now has fears of future announcements from Caterpillar management, headed by new CEO Jim Umpleby and board chairman Dave Calhoun, who heads the Blackstone Investment Group, that more jobs might be sent out of town. Dave Koehler said, 'It's something that everyone feared, but had hoped would never happen.'

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis expressed appreciation for the employees that stayed behind but called the news 'a punch in the gut.' State Sen. Peoria would remain Caterpillar's 'home,' the company stated, emphasizing that 12,000 employees would remain in central Illinois while some 300 executives and staff would work out of corporate offices in Deerfield. Caterpillar announced two things that reverberated across central Illinois: one, the company ditched plans for an expansive office project in Downtown Peoria that Caterpillar had promised with great fanfare just two years earlier, and, two, the corporate headquarters would move to the Chicago area. Caterpillar rose to international prominence on the strength of rugged, reliable earthmoving machines while the Peoria area gained jobs - not only in bustling factories but at the headquarters of a Fortune 100 company, a rare distinction for a city of a population of 100,000.īut in 2017, that symbiotic relationship underwent a dramatic change.

Caterpillar company news